2008 Joseph Roty Griottes-Chambertin

Domaine Joseph Roty is a 25-acre estate in Gevrey-Chambertin, in Burgundy. The Roty family has made wine in the area since the early 18th century, and the estate is now run by Philippe, Joseph’s son, with help from other family members. The estate’s Charmes Chambertin and Mazis Chambertin are its signature Grand Crus, and Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that those two Roty wines “can be virtually perfect in top years.” The estate also makes premier cru and villages wines. Burgundy expert Clive Coates notes that Roty’s wines “are very distinctive. They are full, very intense, very perfumed and very harmonious. They are certainly immensely seductive.”

Griotte-Chambertin, sometimes spelled Griottes-Chambertin, is in Robert M. Parker Jr.’s words “a miniscule jewel of a vineyard” at just 6.7 acres. It is located across the road from Clos de Beze and produces only 800 cases of wine a year. The soil is extremely thin but the vineyard has excellent drainage, and wine writers all seem to agree that wines from Griotte-Chambertin are outstanding. Clive Coates writes that “Griotte has a poise and individuality that raises it above all but the very best Charmes.” Principal landholders are Ponsot/Domaine des Chezeaux, 2.23 acres; Rene Leclerc/Domaine des Chezeaux, 1.88 acres; and Joseph Drouhin, 1.33 acres.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.